Being Teammates, Becoming Friends
by JustAGirlWhoLikesToSayHi
Summary: Several months into joining S.H.I.E.L.D., Peter Parker was still wondering if he made the right decision. Joining a team of teens he barely knew instead of staying where he was comfortable, going solo. Then, a teammate shows up at his bedroom window one day to talk. And they did. It created a domino effect; and one by one, the rest followed.
1. Iron Fist

**A/N**: Tada~! I present to you the sequel to _No Trust? No Understanding? Not Friends_. This first chapter is set right after the USM episode, Strange. Enjoy!

**Edit: Oh gosh, I realized after 15 minutes or so of posting this that I accidentally called Sam, Alex. Because, you know, his name's Sam Alexander. I guess my brain sort of farted when I was writing. I am embarrassed and incredibly ashamed of myself. Excuse me while I stand in the dunce corner, get over it, then make myself feel better by looking at pics on Tumblr.**

**Double Edit: PETER'S EYES ARE BLUE! Gosh darnit, I have to remember to actually rewatch episodes before I start writing so I get the details right. I am a failure. Hopefully, I fixed everything. If not, I'll have a red mark on my forehead from smacking it against a wall repeatedly while muttering the word "stupid" over and over again.**

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own anything except for my own life.

* * *

Today had been… strange. Peter chuckled as he turned the front door knob and entered his house. Calling out an "I'm home" to his Aunt May, he clomped his way sluggishly up the stairs to his bedroom. His body required some sleep and food. In exactly that order. Mechanically dropping his backpack by his desk and kicking off his shoes towards his closet as he crossed the threshold, he flopped down into the inviting softness of sheets and closed his eyes. He was close to entering the blissful land of dreams and cuddled deeper into the fabric, relax his sore muscles.

"Is this a bad time?"

Or not.

"Danny, what?" Peter groaned internally as he raised his head up to make out the figure of one, out-of-costume Iron Fist seated awkwardly on his windowsill, visibly bordering on entering or fleeing. "Why are you pulling a ninja act in my house?"

"Forgive me. I just wanted to talk."

"Huh," he had automatically thought it was going to be one of those times when his teammate dragged him out of the safety of his house and into trouble that he had to fix, mostly by himself. Moving to a more welcoming position, Peter motioned for Danny to come in and take a seat next to him. "That's fine. …Hey, is this going to be one of those heart-to-heart sorta things? I mean, I'm all for it, I guess. Just prepare yourself for me saying something stupid. I do that sometimes."

"You mean a lot of times?" the monk smiled as he got comfortable and gave a cursory examination of the hero's room, a bookshelf filled with science books and a desk covered with tinkering. Just as he had noticed in the video clips Fury had shown.

"Yeah," Peter nodded subconsciously before shaking his head quickly in denial. "No! Wait, not that much. Just… occasionally. Maybe, 3 to 4 times a day. Not a lot."

"Dude," Danny chuckled. "That's a lot."

"Shut up," he was tempted to reach for a pillow and childishly smack him with it but resisted after a short debate with his shoulder Spideys. Rubbing the back of his neck, Peter got to business. "So, what exactly do you want to talk about?"

"Me."

"Uh, okay. You mean you'll just lie down in my bed and tell me your problems like I'm some sort of psychologist?"

"No," Danny stated indignantly. "Peter, what do you know about me?"

"Well, today, I learned that you got your magical iron fist-y power from a dragon. Which, by the way, I think is totally awesome. Way better tale than mine."

"And before that?"

"Uh…" the little office workers in Peter's head drew up only a partially-filled, flimsy sheet of paper on the file of one Danny Rand. "You tend to use proverbs a lot?"

"I have not told you anything about my past until today?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Don't be," Danny sighed, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees and tilt his face so that it was shadowed by his golden-brown locks. His next words were but a breathy whisper. "Director Fury was right."

"Come again?" Peter cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Nothing. Peter," he met the web-slinging teen's blue gaze. "How much do you think the team knows about you?"

"Considering the fact that all of you plus Coulson infiltrated the school to keep your 'eyes on me' and Fury had about a bajillion cameras all around my house, which is creepy by the way, I'd say it's fair to assume that you guys know just about everything that's ever been documented about me."

"You're right."

"Not surprised," Peter scoffed, weaving his fingers behind his head and leaning back into his mattress. The inner metal springs groaned slightly at the shifting wait.

Silence.

"So, obviously, you know about Uncle Ben."

"Yeah."

"I'm guessing S.H.I.E.L.D. figured out where I got my powers."

"Surveillance at Oscorp is easy to hack into."

"…You read about my parents?"

"I am truly sorry for your loss, Peter."

"I was just a little kid, then. Barely remember them," his laugh was short and humorless, blue eyes staring sightlessly at the peeling paint on the ceiling. "…yours?"

"Gone. They're actually the reason I became Iron Fist. Sorta."

Peter sat up again, serious and completely focused on his teammate, "Do tell."

Hours passed by as the two teens came completely immersed in the life story of Daniel Rand. He was born to Wendell Rand and Heather Duncan in the fair New York City, a common place of origin for several superheroes. When Daniel was seven, Wendell decided to take his family and close friend, Harold Meachum, to visit the mystical city of K'un-L'un, a land hidden the Himalayan Mountains which only appeared every ten years. Wendell had the fortune of discovering it in his youth. Misfortune took place when Daniel slipped off a narrow path, accidently dragging nearly everyone over the edge of a cliff because of the rope connecting them. Meachum had the opportunity to save all of them.

Meachum was a jealous man.

Meachum allowed Wendell to fall to his death in front of his wife and child. Then, he turned to offer Heather and Daniel help off of the mountain, a sickly smile on his face despite the fact he had just murdered his best friend for stealing the woman he, too, had fallen in love with. Heather refused and decided to continue the journey to K'un-L'un, to see the place her deceased husband wanted him to see. With, or without him. Meachum left silently. So, the two trekked through more freezing snow and biting wind. Finally, after an arduous hike, they were greeted by a magical bridge, the entrance to K'un-L'un. Their journey was over. They were safe.

And then, the wolves struck.

Rescue from K'un-L'un archers came too late. Heather Duncan Rand had died protecting her son from a wolf's fatal bite. A grief stricken Daniel was taken in by monks and presented to the leader of K'un-L'un, Yu-ti. Daniel wanted vengeance against Meachum, so he was apprenticed to the martial arts master Lei Kung, the Thunderer (no relation to Thor the Thunderer). For the next 10 years, he was trained and became Lei Kung's most gifted students. After his 17th birthday, Daniel was allowed the chance to fight the fearsome dragon, Shou-Lao the Undying, for power of the Iron Fist.

"You won, obviously."

"That's right," Danny stared at the hand he primarily used for his punches and clenched it into a fist. "Soon after that, the entrance to K'un-L'un reappeared, and I returned to New York."

"Did you ever find Harold Meachum?"

"I did," the monk's eyes hardened, and his fist shook slightly. "But I never got the chance to find out whether or not I truly wanted to avenge my parents."

"Why?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened before I could even get close to him."

"How did they find you?"

"By following the path of destruction I left from practicing my powers on men that Meachum sent after me. Not just anyone could leave gaping holes in brick walls and cement sidewalks."

"Nice."

Danny nodded, continuing his story, "Director Fury gave me the choice of resuming my goal of committing revenge against Meachum and getting arrested or joining the team he was assembling and having the chance to become a hero. As you can see, I chose the latter," a pause, and the lazy smile that the monk usually wore graced his lips once again. "And I believe I chose well. I was introduced to Sam and Ava and Luke, and we got to know one another, become friends. Then, we met you, and we've been fighting the good fight ever since. Thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D... and you."

"You think so?" Peter rubbed at his neck again, turning away to hide his goofy smile and blush. He was a sucker for praise.

"Yeah," the heavy tension from Danny's story morphed into another long, uncomfortable silence. For a minute, they exchanged glances, Peter appearing as if he wanted to rub all of the skin off of his upper back and Danny worrying at his fingers distractedly. Then, in one swift motion, Danny stood up and turned, intending to depart through the window. "Well, this was a good talk. Thank you, Peter. I should go."

"Wait, don't just ninja your way out of here just yet," the science nerd got on his feet, his tone slightly pleading. "My Aunt May's just about finished cooking dinner and I'm pretty sure we're having meatloaf tonight. Let me tell you, her meatloaf is to die for. She hasn't met you yet, so I think it'd be a pretty good time to introduce you to each other. You know… If you want to…"

"I would love to, Peter, but I'm expected back at the Helicarrier soon to turn in my mission report," Danny shook his head, the muscles on his shoulders relaxing. "Although, Ava has probably given a very detailed account of what she experienced, it will not provide much information since she did not participate in the actual battle against Nightmare."

"Well, next time, then. Okay?"

"Definitely."

"…Have you ever told anyone else about your past?"

"Bits and pieces of it to those who ask, like Director Fury or Ava or Sam. Luke's the only other person I've ever told the whole story to. You would be the second."

"Wow," Peter was speechless, too touched to find the right words. "So… uh… I'll be seeing you tomorrow. At school?"

"Indeed. Farewell, Peter."

Danny had climbed halfway through the mirror when Peter spoke again.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Thanks. For telling me. About everything, I mean. For trusting me with your story."

"I owe you that much, my friend. 'He who gives has all things, but he who withholds has nothing.'" And Danny disappeared, ninja-ing away to wherever he had to go to get to the Helicarrier.

"Heh, you've got that right, buddy," Peter beamed. Somewhere in his subconscious, his little imaginary office workers were busily organizing the filing cabinet of Daniel Rand and preparing three others for use. The teen never had thought about sitting with his teammates and talking to them as he had done with Danny, but now he was open to it. To learning more about the people he sincerely wanted to call friends.

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**A/N****:** I'd like to note that before USM, I didn't know anything about the team besides Spider-Man, who I've loved since the old cartoons. I had to do a bit research on Iron Fist before I could even start this chapter; and truthfully, those paragraphs of Danny's back story are basically what's written on the Wikipage of him, albeit changed a bit (his age being a major one since he's been teen-afied for the show). Next up, Luke Cage. :D


	2. Luke Cage

**A/N:** I'm sorry it took so long for me to dish this out! I had some trouble figuring out how to edit Luke's backstory, but I think I've done it justice. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Please forgive me for not replying. I'm an awkward turtle with poor communication skills who doesn't know how to reply to wonderful reviews, especially you, **Rider Paladin**. You are awesome.

**Disclaimer: **Why, Marvel?! Why are you so wonderful and NOT MINE?! *dramatic sobbing*

* * *

Peter Parker and Luke Cage, with the help of some company, had once again saved the day from a problem that they, themselves, had created (or been partially at fault for). Despite exiting the Awesome Android covered in goop and in the nude, Principal Phil Coulson had pulled some strings to allow the two to redo their science project. In one day. The pair was currently holed up in the Helicarrier under direct orders from Director Fury to not leave the room under any circumstances until they were done with their project. Unless they had to pee. Or one of them got injured. Or a supervillain was threatening world domination. Or a variety of other things that the wall crawler chose to bring up until Luke interrupted him with an elbow to the stomach.

"I think you bruised something," Peter whined as he gingerly poked at his ribs.

"Could you stop being such a baby and tell me again what we're doing?" Luke huffed, carefully emptying out the plastic bags that were filled with items from Science Stop, a scientist's dream place made reality for one-stop shopping of exemplary goods at jaw-dropping prices.

"Magic."

"Haha, very funny," his monotone was dripping with sarcasm, but his tone change when Peter's facial expression remained unmoved. "…Seriously?"

The science whiz cracked a grin, "Gotcha."

"Is now _really_ a good time to be kidding around? We only have until morning to complete this project!"

"Chillax. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Ah, watch out for those chemicals!" With the deftness that only a spider-powered genius could manage, Peter plucked the labeled bottles out of his teammates hand and placed them neatly in a row on the table in front of him. "Trust me, Luke. This is going to be fun. We're doing the project together this time."

"Yeah, I guess," Luke conceded reluctantly, folding his arms as he watched his lab partner OCD just a bit with where all of the equipment had to be. "Now, without joking, Parker, tell me what we're doing."

"We're creating multihued heat discharges; or, in layman's terms, 'magic' fire," Peter wiggled his finger dramatically as he spoke the word 'magic.'

"Magical enough to get us an 'A?'"

"You know it," he affirmed, pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil from his backpack to sketch with. "Here, I'm drawing a diagram of the mechanism we're going to build to showcase it. Just follow my directions, and we'll get this done in no time."

Luke just nodded and watched as Peter completed the blueprint. For several minutes, they worked in silence, the intellectually stronger of Team Awesome stealing very unsubtle glances at his partner as they concentrated on constructing the structural part of their project. Well, that is, if you could call Peter rambling about how each substance could change the color of a flame and Luke supplying noncommittal noises in reply 'silence.'

"…and I think we really need to work on your trust issues."

"Mmhm, yeah. Sure. I… WHAT?!" Luke sputtered, failing to notice several metal parts clatter to the ground.

"Oh, and you also seem to have a bit of a temper; although, I'm sure you'll mellow naturally with age."

"Don't give me that, Parker. Trust issues?!" the African American teen scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't have trust issues."

"Denial," Peter stated in a sing-songy voice as he used his webshooters to thwip up the fallen pieces and place them tidily back onto the table. "I mean. You really gave it to me about the whole trust thing. More so than anyone else I've had to talk to. Not Harry, or M.J., not even Aunt May!" He gazed seriously at his teammate as he set down the last metal bit. "What is it about this mess that's rubbed you the wrong way? Besides the whole: Awesome-Android-ruining-the-Science-Fair thing, of course."

"It's just…" Luke Cage bit his lip, turning away from Peter. Scrunching his eyebrows together, he steeled himself up for what he and the rest of the team had promised each other. They were going to tell Peter everything about themselves. Everything. "I had a friend, once, who kept asking me to trust him. It didn't work out in the end. For either of us."

"What happened?"

"A few years ago, I wasn't Luke Cage. I was Carl Lucas, just your average teen born and raised in Harlem."

"_You,_ too? Yeesh, what is it with superheroes and New York?"

The self-titled Power Man threw the brunette a pointed look.

"Right, shutting up now. Please, continue."

"Me and my friend, Willis Stryker, we were in with the wrong crowd. A gang called the Rivals," Luke spit out the title as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "We worked for a guy called Sonny Caputo. He had us small fries doing things like petty theft, arson, and being fresh meat to throw at this other gang, the Diablos. The Rivals filled me with all sorts of misguided dreams," A bitter laugh. "I actually wanted to be a racketeer.

"My family had their suspicions about what was going on with me," Shame dripped from each word. "I brushed them off like they were nothing. The deeper we got, though, the less sure I was about being a Rival, but Willis, he kept assuring me that everything was going to be fine. To trust him. Then, Willis got in trouble with the Maggia. He could have been killed if I hadn't jumped into the fight and saved him. When the police came, we were arrested and sent to juvie. A Godsend, really. It gave me time to think. For my family to get through to me. A chance for me to better myself.

"Willis… He didn't take that opportunity. I tried to talk to him, to help him, but he just shut me out and started hanging around some Rivals members, corrupting him further and further. The day he sent them after me," A hand ran over his stomach, soothing a ghost pain. "We weren't friends anymore. The last thing I heard him say to me? 'This will be over soon. Trust me, Carl.' Luckily, the guards ended it before anyone died. Namely, me. I was sent to another facility in Georgia; and for a few weeks, I thought that things were going to get better. They didn't.

"There was a scientist there, Dr. Noah Burnstein. He was offering work to all of the teens, paying them a ludicrous amount of cash to help them with his experiments. Anyone that went with him never came back. Most of us ducked our heads whenever he came in; he had the most sadistic guard for security, Albert Rackam. The guy seemed to hate every single one of us to the very core of his being. I didn't want anything to with the Doctor or Rackam until a letter came in from my mom telling me my father was dying," Luke's shoulders shook slightly. He sucked in a deep breath, grasping for control. "There was an accident at work, and they couldn't afford the cost of the surgery. So, I took Dr. Burnstein's offer, convincing him to send the money to my family before I went through with his experiments.

"I didn't know then, but he was trying to recreate the Super Soldier serum to revolutionize cell regeneration. He hooked me up to this machine that would use a chemical compound to conduct an electrical field around me. It tingled a little, so I thought everything was fine. The second Dr. Burnstein turned his back, though, Rackam upped the power," He shivered as the memory took hold. "God, it hurt so much, it felt like my insides were melting. At some point, I passed out, but I don't remember waking up. The next thing I knew, I was running through a forest with no memory of what I had done. Apparently, I'd survived the shock treatment and went on a mad rampage through the facility. Breaking through several walls and doors, a couple of which were metal."

Peter let out a low whistle, easing some of the tension as he expressed his admiration, "And I thought Danny did some major damage with his powers."

"He told you about that," The words came out as more of a statement than a question. He was not the least bit surprised that Danny had been the first to talk, especially with the way Peter seemed to be more at ease with him as well as the way the monk had bonded with Harry.

"Yeah," Peter bobbed his head, a smile playing on his lips. "So, what happened after that? Did the cops find you and cart you to the hospital? Juvie?"

"No, actually," Despite his dark complexion, a blush could be seen on his face. "I tried getting back home."

"From Georgia?!"

Luke nodded, "I followed the roads and signs for a few miles. Made it to North Carolina before I had the sense to call home, to see if someone could pick me up. My brother, James Jr., answered. I didn't even make it through the first sentence of my explanation before he dropped the bomb on me. He told me that Dad had passed away."

"…Luke… I…"

"He was lying," He seethed, once again inhaling several calming breaths. "He was like Willis, shunning me as he grew rotten on the inside. The lie was enough for me to lose any semblance of rationality, to give in to rage and despair. I leveled dozens of trees and metal posts and was making my way towards buildings before S.H.I.E.L.D. stopped me," A dry chuckle. "I had the honor of being tazed into submission by Director Fury, himself."

Peter winced, "Ouch."

"When I came to, he offered me the chance to find control, to be the better man I wanted to be ever since I was admitted into juvie. He even said that they would monitor my family's situation and help them out when they needed it. I thought I was dreaming, especially when I was told I had to change my name," Luke admitted, finally cracking a smile. "Danny, Ava, Sam. They grounded me after that, made me see that everything was real, that it was actually happening. We wanted to be superheroes, like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor… Like you."

"Me?" Peter pointed to himself incredulously and shook his head. "No way!"

"Come on, man. Unlike those guys, you started off young, real young; and unlike us, me and Danny, you chose to do the right thing with your powers right from the start."

"Admittedly, I had a little help with that," Rubbing the base of his neck, he lowered his eyes to the floor, a bittersweet expression on his face.

"Your Uncle Ben."

"'With great power comes great responsibility.' …Yeah."

"I bet he was a good man."

"He was. The best," A hush blanketed them, awkward and pervasive. Peter coughed loudly, turning his attention back to their project. "Okay, then. Chemicals, check. Diagrams, check. Parts, check. Confessions… check. Team Awesome is ready to get back to work."

"Right, right," Luke agreed readily, eager to put their conversation behind them. He picked up the metal pieces and resumed the assembly of the mechanism.

"Oh, and Luke."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Peter."

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked it! If you see any grammatical mistakes, please feel free to point them out. Next on the list is one, Ava Ayala. :D Hopefully, I'll get through all of the team before the 2nd season rolls around and makes all of my hard work not canon. :'D


	3. White Tiger

**A/N:** WHEW. FI-NAH-LLEEEY! I'm so sorry this took so long to come out. I'm just a terribly terrible person to follow when you want quick, consistent updates. And I was so off-put about continuing this when so much of my ideas were getting proven false in season 2. But, here it is. Vaguely canon. Set sometime after Awesome Android.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the entirety of this work of fiction which I am the creator of. The story, I mean. Just the story.

* * *

"I'm sorry."

"Uh, okay. For what?"

Peter Parker glanced up from the hefty book he had been perusing for a research paper as Ava Ayala took the seat across from him at the desk he was using in the library. Despite it being late in the afternoon, Stan the Man, or whatever the janitor's real name was, had allowed the science genius to stay longer than was normal for any student and dished out an immediately forgotten anecdote as he left to clean some other part of the building, keys jingling against his waist as he went. Before the Latina's arrival, Peter had been in a peaceful state. No supervillains to fight. No friends to emotionally console. Just him and the ink-scented crinkle of thousands of books.

"Your leg."

Oh, and a busted leg from a brawl last night, which was why he had this time to himself in the first place.

"Huh, oh yeah," The teen took a moment to examine the cast wrapped around the majority of his left leg as it was propped on the chair next to him. Sam had taken the liberty of doodling admittedly not-terrible drawings of the team on a majority of the white plaster. Peter shrugged. "It's not that bad. My brain's so busy with work, I barely notice the pain. Wait… are you blaming _this_ on yourself?"

"I-"

"Because it's not," He closed the book with an audible 'shlump.' "It really isn't."

"It was my plan."

"I just got caught off guard, it's happened before, and Fury already gave me a stern talking to. It'll heal quickly, so the only uncomfortable part is pretending it healed at a normal pace. Secret identity and all."

"You're making this apology really difficult, you know," Ava huffed, crossing her arms.

"Sorry?"

"Ugh, this is not how I wanted this conversation to go," she griped. "You were supposed to accept the apology and forgive me, then I was going to use it as an excuse to talk about my past - and I just said all of that out loud like an idiot, didn't I?"

"…Nooo?" A glare amended his statement. "Yeah, you kinda did. Well, _maybe _not like an idiot. It was actually sort of endearing."

"You have such a strange definition of what you think is 'cute,' Ava scoffed.

"No, I don't!"

"Just the other day, you called 'pew pew' guns adorable. As you were being _shot at_," she deadpanned.

"Why don't we skip the part where I defend my state of mind," Peter pointed tentatively at himself before turning his index finger towards Ava. "And you continue on with revealing your back story?"

"I'd appreciate that," She admitted grudgingly.

Peter swept his arms out in front of him, "I'm all ears, then."

"Well, the mantle of the White Tiger has been passed down through the generations in my family, traditionally from father to son with some exceptions. When I was born, my father was the White Tiger, and by the time I was of the age to properly remember anything, my brother, Hector, had taken up the mask," Ava hugged her arms, a small smile on her lips as she reminisced. The little grin faded as she mentioned the legacy passing on to her relatives, Kasper Cole and Angela Del Toro, when the preceding White Tiger could no longer don the suit. There was even a time where an actual _tiger_ was the white-clad super hero. Then, there was her.

"I dreamed of being the White Tiger when I was a kid. I took up martial arts to prepare because I was sure that I would one day take the title. I even collected newspaper clippings of my brother during his first years as the hero. Then, the role kept being passed down, away from me. For a while, I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. I mean, that Cole was barely related to us, and I never figured out how a shape shifting Bengal tiger could wield the Amulet."

"Maybe it was a magical tiger?"

"Maybe," Ava dismissed the suggestion with a wave of her hand. "After some time, Hector was back in the mask, and I was incredibly frustrated. I told him so myself when he came to visit Dad and me one day." She grimaced. "I shouldn't have blown up at him. He wasn't sane then."

"What do you mean?"

"The White Tiger Amulet imbues its holder with mystical powers, gifting them with endurance and strength beyond the capabilities of a normal human being. And if one isn't prepared," the current holder of the mantel glanced down to where the item was hidden underneath the sash on her waist. "He or she can go insane wielding it and become obsessed with its powers. My brother was under a lot of pressure when he came home. He was wrongly accused of murder, which I didn't know at the time because everyone thought it was better that I didn't," Her tone came out bitter. "And he was trying to keep it together to help his lawyer, Matt Murdock, come up with a good defense.

"It goes without saying that me screaming at him didn't help in the slightest. He went ballistic at that, going on a rampage around our house. Dad and I had to wrestle him to the ground and wrench the Amulet away from him to get him to stop. Hector broke down the moment it was out of his hands," Ava's brow contorted at the memory, and she hugged her arms to stop the slight tremble that ran through her body. "He begged Dad to give it back to him, like he was a drug addict suffering from withdrawal. It was so terrible. I regretted everything I said in that instant; but before I could apologize, Dad told me to hide the Amulet somewhere in his room. By the time I came back, Mr. Murdock had arrived and was escorting Hector to a cab. His face before he entered the car… I couldn't even work myself up to tell him goodbye."

Peter, at a loss for words, simply leaned forward, ignoring whatever jolt of pain came to his leg in the maneuver, to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder as several tears streaked down her cheeks. His teammate simply accepted the soothing action, allowing a moment to compose herself and continue as he dropped his limb to listen once more, "Hector was declared guilty a few days later. Without the White Tiger Amulet, he just accepted his fate: a life sentence. Although, not the most favorable outcome, I was glad he wasn't sentenced to death. Dad and I visited him a couple of times, called him or sent him letters when we weren't able to do that. Things weren't the best, but they were better.

"Then, Dad had to become the White Tiger, again. He had no choice. Then he," Ava shut her eyes tightly, consuming several breaths.

"Do you want to continue?" Peter inquired gently. "Or…?"

"I don't think I want to talk about THAT just yet," she admitted quietly. "Maybe some other time. But, I finally became the White Tiger," a fist was raised in a poor attempt at celebrating the lackluster triumph. "I didn't try anything with the Amulet for several days, though. I went to Hector, first, getting as much information on what to and what not to do with it. I trained for a bit, leaving more than just a few signs of destruction in my neighborhood."

"Yeesh, you guys and destroying public property," the webhead muttered humorously with a sprinkling of affection.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. found me soon after that. I met Danny, Luke, and Sam, and they sort of became the three extra brothers that I never knew I had, or wanted. When I wasn't training or studying, they were practically driving me up the wall," Ava's mouth twitched into a fond smile. "I was so glad that I would finally be able to put myself out there when you came, Peter. You've taught us a lot about what it truly means to be heroes."

"I'm not all that great," the science geek muttered modestly, knowing that his face had definitely turned a bit red. "You guys have been telling me so much about yourselves in the past few weeks. I feel kind of humbled."

"If it wasn't for S.H.I.E.L.D. who knows what any of us could be doing right now," Ava admitted. "Truthfully, if Director Fury hadn't stepped in, I would have been out for revenge instead of saving people's lives."

"Ava…"

"Don't try to reason out my motives, Peter. I know I would have done it, but now," she smiled. "I've got control. I've got this team. I'm learning to be a hero, a great one, from Fury, Coulson… and you."

"Gosh, you guys are really laying the compliments on thick, you know that? I don't know what's come over all of you. It wasn't like this before."

"Well, we weren't really being fair with all of the beef we've given you over the past few months about the littlest things. We were just sort of thrown into your life without you really wanting it, and we weren't particularly considerate about it either," Ava admitted. "And we've only realized that recently, so we're trying to be better teammates to you. And," She peered up at him hesitantly. "Friends."

Peter, surprisingly, erupted with laughter, holding his arms up defensively when the Latina started simmering, "No, no, sorry. I just," He wiped at a stray, giddy tear. "I didn't know you guys thought…" Calming down, the web-slinger lowered his arms, still beaming at her. "Ava. The day I met you and the team, the moment you guys listened to me, I considered you my friends. Admittedly, not as cool as M.J. and Harry, but… you're getting there."

Ava shook her head, awed and bemused, "You, Peter Parker, are impossible."

"Guilty as charged," He bobbed his head theatrically before opening his text book again. "Now, if this paper weren't so impossible, I'd get some more not-impossible sleep when I get home."

"Try page 237."

"What?"

"You're the science geek. I'm the history geek. Oh, and look at that. Your paper's about cultural heritage, which I," Ava smirked, unashamed of her blatant boast. "am an expert in."

It was a few hours later when Stan the Janitor, or whoever he was, peeked through the library doors to see the two students completely engrossed in volleying ideas at each other, the scritch-scratching of pencil lead on paper quite loud in the nearly vacant setting. Pushing his terribly unnecessary glasses up the bridge of his nose, the elderly custodian placed his headphones on his ears and proceeded to another area of the school. He would give the teens another hour before sending them home so he could lock up. Humming a catchy tune, he scooted his cart along the dim hallways. Kids enthusiastic about learning were always a pleasant sight to see.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I kept Hector, who I secretly headcanon as Hector Jr. so the Ayalas' dad can still be Hector (Senior). Also, the tune Stan is humming at the end is totally the old Spider-Man theme tune. Oh, and my headcanon for Ava, who is an all-around smart gal in the show, is that she's strong in history subjects, especially when it involves Latin America (in the comics, she's quite proud of her Latina heritage, so, yeah). Again, I mostly used Wiki pages for a lot of my info. If you want to learn any more about the characters mentioned, do the smart thing and Google it (or read the comics if you have money, which I don't). Okay, done rambling. Three out of four teammates down. Last, but certainly not least, is one Nova, Sam Alexander. Coming, hopefully, in the foreseeable future and not next year.


End file.
